No action on gay blessings in Southern Africa: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 18, 2011 p 8.

The Southern African House of Bishops

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Southern African House of Bishops has deferred taking action on adopting guidelines for the blessing of same-sex unions, citing legal difficulties and theological divisions within its ranks.

Meeting from Feb 7-12 at the Mariannhill Conference Centre in the Diocese of Natal, the bishops released a pastoral letter at the close of their meeting confirming they were at an impasse.

They noted that Archbishop Thabo Makgoba had “taken a lead in bringing concerns to us from the dioceses in the Western Cape with regard to the pastoral care of persons who have entered into civil unions or are considering doing so.”

However, they noted this was “not a matter of legitimising same-sex unions but of care for worshippers who are already in them,” the bishops said, adding that “our Church does not consider any relationship to be marriage unless it is the historic relationship of a man and a woman uniting, ideally for life.”

At their Sept 2010 meeting, the bishops reviewed a draft document entitled “Pastoral Guidelines in Response to Civil Unions” and asked the church’s 25 dioceses to review the protocols for discussion at the bishops’ Feb 2011 meeting.  At the close of their Sept 2010 meeting the bishops said they were “acutely aware of the need to act pastorally and prudently on this sensitive matter,” but were also “committed to remaining within the accepted teachings of our Church on marriage and the ongoing dialogue within the Anglican Communion.”

In the letter released at the close of their meeting last week, the bishops stated they did not “regard sexuality as a church-dividing issue” and would “draw upon our experience of holding together by the grace of Christ in a time of acute tension and disagreement.”

However, the bishops said they were not able to give their approval to the draft document at this time.  “It is difficult to give blanket guidelines because the position is starkly at variance in the legal systems of the seven countries where we work.”

“We continue to work on creating guidelines in several areas of difficulty raised by the issue of civil unions. A draft for discussion in dioceses is in development. However, we note that guidelines in other areas could also be useful – such as supporting and acknowledging those who choose celibate singleness in their Christian discipleship, whether pending future marriage or for life,” the bishops said.

Last week’s pastoral letter builds upon letters released at the close of the 2004 and 2007 meetings.  Following the April 2004 session, the bishops stated the Southern African Church was “committed” to Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference and to the Primates’ call “not to solemnise same-sex marriages but to continue in dialogue on this and related issues.”

In a statement released at the close of their Sept 2007 meeting, the bishops reaffirmed Lambeth  Resolution 1.10, but stated that they did not “believe sexual orientation” was a “barrier to leadership within the church.  However, maintaining as we do, that Christian marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman, we hold that clergy unable to commit to another in a Christian marriage partnership are called to a life of celibacy.”

The 2007 statement followed a request to the bishops by the Cape Town synod for “pastoral guidelines for ministering to those who are in committed same-sex relationships.”

The year before the South African Parliament voted to allow same-sex couples to “solemnize and register a voluntary union by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership,” after the South Africa’s Constitutional Court Appeal held the common-law definition of marriage should be changed from a “union between a man and a woman” to a “union between two persons.”